Touchet grinds out 60-42 victory over Odessa-Harrington

ODESSA, Wash. — Touchet’s determination to establish a ball-control offense bore fruit here Friday night as the Indians churned out a 60-42 victory over Odessa-Harrington in a non-league 8-man football game.

“The last time we had three guys rush for 100 yards or more in a game, I can’t remember,” said Gary Dorman, the Indians’ fourth-year head coach who was a Touchet assistant coach for decades before taking the head job when Wayne Dickey retired following the 2008 season.

“We’ve been a fairly big-play offense,” Dorman said. “To be able to rush 62 times for over 400 yards is kind of out of character for us.”

Jose Martinez, the Indians’ senior power back, packed the ball 17 times for 152 yards and had touchdown runs of 32, 3 and 2 yards.

Elias Martinez, the team’s junior quarterback, finished with 137 yards on 12 carries, including TDs of 57 and 9 yards.

And Preciado, a senior who lost the quarterback battle to Elias Martinez last fall and has settled in as the second running option behind Jose Martinez in the Indians’ backfield, had his number called 24 times in Friday night’s game and garnered 102 yards. Preciado scored the first TD of the game on a two-yard run and later caught a four-yard touchdown pass from Elias Martinez, who completed 7-of-12 passes for 99 yards and two scores.

Senior end Lyle Dowsett snagged the other touchdown pass, a 15-yarder that boosted the Indians’ lead to 36-22 going into halftime.

The Indians defense held O-H scoreless in the third quarter and built its lead to 52-22 early in the fourth period. The home team scored three of the game’s last four TDs to narrow Touchet’s final margin of victory, but the outcome was never in doubt after the intermission.

“They ran back a kickoff against mostly our reserves with about four minutes to play, and then they hit a long pass with about 30 seconds left,” Dorman said of O-H’s final two touchdowns.

Odessa-Harrington relied mostly on the passing of quarterback Justin Hunt and receiver Cade Weber, who hooked up nine times for 196 yards and three touchdowns. Hunt, pressed into service when first-string QB Jared King, a three-year starter, was injured a week earlier, completed 13-of-19 passes for 304 yards and four scores.

“They kind of surprised us by throwing as effectively as they did,” Dorman said. “We knew their first quarterback was out, so we worked hard all week on stopping the run. Their big plays in the passing game surprised us.”

The Indians improved to 2-0 and open Southeast 1B-8 League play at home next Friday against Liberty Christian, which entered the season as the favorite to win the championship.

Touchet will be bolstered by the return of senior wide receiver/defensive back Vicente Flores, who led the Indians in scoring last year but has missed the first two games with academic issues. Transfer Brock Lane, a junior linebacker, will also see his first action against the Patriots.